Memoirs in Ink and Blood

by Corah Il Cappo

Animal

Our mission felt futile from the start.

I was tasked with taking an advance squadron of guards, no more than a hundred strong, into the Everfree. The forest was massive, misunderstood, and treacherous to navigate. If Discord had picked anyplace to hide, it would be there. Nopony was stupid nor courageous enough to plunge headlong into the Everfree, unless they were truly desperate.

I was desperate.

Twilight had made me a deal. I brought her Discord, and she would bring me Cadence. It was more than a fair trade to me. However, making good on that promise felt like chasing a shadow on a moonless night.

Our quarry was slick. He never seemed to sleep, or pause to eat. Nor did he leave tracks for us to follow. The closest we could get was the occasional broken branch or pile of half eaten chocolate bars. He knew he was being tracked. He was toying with us. For a being with such a disjointed and chaotic mind, Discord could be a surprisingly smooth operator when he needed to be.

Despite difficulties, we pressed on.

We had to, or rather I had to. Every day without her I felt lonely, empty, and abandoned. I felt guilty for allowing her to face my sister alone. Even if she could find it in her cold, unbeating heart to forgive me, I would never forgive myself.

And so we continued. Sometimes days went by without any sight of our quarry. The day and night had blended together into one single, dreary cycle. Sometimes the sun refused to set, sometimes the moon dominated the skies as early as noon. Blinding eclipses were a frequent sight to be seen, though after you've seen it a hundred times it loses much of its gravitas.

My company and I barely slept now. Time became irrelevant, what with the heavens spiraling into chaos, and we simply slept when and where we could. Food was a scarcity. The supplies we had packed were not nearly enough for our trip, so now we had to make do.

We stripped the bark from the trees. We chewed leaves from the branches. We clipped the grass until it was no more than dirt. Our coats were filthy and matted. We had eventually sheared off our manes with our swords, and what little remained was greasy and filled with knots. Our shoulders slumped, our teeth yellowed, and our clothes rotted. We had become animals. The vestiges of civilization slowly slipped away from us, leaving us to face a grim reminder of what we all were deep down.

We were mortals.

We live, we die, and we decay, all while the gods watch over us.

How could they care for us, when we were so small and insignificant? Perhaps they didn't. Perhaps Celestia, Luna, and Cadence had no interest in our affairs. Perhaps Twilight was right.

Deep down, we were nothing more than cattle to be herded about at their whims. And now I had been herded into this deathtrap of a forest to find and subdue a being that could slay me with a thought. What a strange world we lived in these days.

Finally, after what felt like endless ages of hunting and searching, we had found our quarry. One of my soldiers spotted him through the treetops, and in seconds the chase was on. We hurled ourselves into the bramble, not even caring for the thorns anymore. They were no more than pinpricks against flesh hardened by.adrenaline. We flew over the earth, pounding it with our hooves as we dashed, grunting and shrieking like the beasts we were.

Then there came a sound.

It was not a loud noise, in fact it was just barely audible, and yet it made my blood run cold.

The click and clack of chitinous bodies. The buzz and hum of ribbed wings. The hiss and whistle of breath between fangs. They were sounds that had been forcibly ingrained into my memories.

Changelings.

In a flash my sword was drawn from its sheath, just as a horde of the insects descended from the trees surrounding me. I swept my blade in an arc above me, cleaving one of the beasts in two. The halved corpse fell to my side, just as another changeling lunged for me, fangs barred. I delivered a swift thrust with my sword, disregarding its heft and weight. The thick tip pierced through the roof of the changeling's mouth, exiting out the back of its skull.

Disengaging quickly, I whirled around to find my soldiers in a state of panic. Several were already dead. Some were hacking wildly with their blades, their eyes wild with terror. Others simply turned tail and fled. I rushed headlong into the fray, sweeping my sword and beheading one of the insects with ease. As I scanned my soldiers, I began to notice a strange phenomenon. It seemed that the changelings were beginning to thin out, yet there were so few of their corpses upon the ground.

Suddenly it struck me.

They were camouflaging themselves. Blending in seamlessly with my men, to the point where we could no longer distinguish friend from foe. Within seconds, I could no longer distinguish my own troops from the blended changelings. I stood in wide eyed horror watching as my soldiers let out a cry of victory, completely ignorant to the situation.

I froze, unsure of what to do.

What could I do here? I couldn't just kill my own men at random. The only way to be sure that I had killed all the infiltrators would be to kill my entire group. That was something I couldn't bring myself to do.

Yet, if stayed my hoof, all it would do was endanger my goal. Discord would escape, and I would be left empty hooved. Every instinct within me said to flee, and pursue Discord on my own.

I obeyed my instincts.

After all, I was an animal.

Comments

[Pearple Prose]

that promise self like chasing a shadow on a moonless night.

One error there, bro.

[Corah Il Cappo]

4403549

Methinks I doth write at odd hours too much.

Thanks for catching my errors.

[Roseninapie]

... I know how I will make it through the hiatus now: by experiencing fine literature!

[FenrisianBrony]

Wow, just found this story and it's prequel, and I must say I'm bloody impressed.

Seriously, this think kicks so much ass it constantly smells of farts
(Don't think too much about that. I didn't. )

[bonamb]

This is like poetry, just awesomeness in 1000 words
MOAR PLZ

[Voidedstory]

something I couldnt bring

Missed an apostrophe, there.

Don't give in, Shining! Just let Discord capture you so you can help them win.

[TurboSwag]

They were no more than pinpricks against flesh hardened by adrenalin.

I believe you missed an "e" there,

[Psitally]

4407155 there's 2 ways to spell adrenaline and that's one of the ways

[scootaloos jetplane]

you are really good at writing about the ponies breaking points. Its scary, how the best men are the worst monsters.

[Cerulean Voice]

4407155
4407356
To put this simply:

Adrenalin = a patented and named product, made up of more than just the named substance.
Adrenaline = a natural substance produced by the adrenal gland.

One's heart can pound from the effects of natural adrenaline when feelings like fear, anger or desperation arise.
Adrenalin, however, is generally administered to the body from outside, most often in medical emergencies.

The spelling really depends on the context.

[Corah Il Cappo]

4407961

Thank you for that actually. I've always seen there were two ways to spell it but had no idea what the difference between them was, Now I know. And knowing is half the battle.

[Cerulean Voice]

4408553
Here's an easy example to remember it by:

"Adrenaline coursed through my veins, spurring me on."
"Administer a shot of Adrenalin, we're losing him."

Also, I would like to say that it's a pity you started writing this a while ago. I would very much have liked to actually had some worthy competition. So far, I'm the only entrant.

[Psitally]

4407961 thank you very much I always thought they were the same just different spelling

[Wolfoftimber]

I like the change in viewpoint each chapter, never really considered how much a scene could differ from character to character. You've got me hooked and looking forward to more.

[Doctor Derpin]

Another fantastic chapter. The tone of desperation is very well presented.

[Fear the Dark]

AAAAnnnnd....
I've reached the hiatus point.
damn.

[Ponylover123456789]

Yeesh, shifting from "Twilight was a beautiful, sinless soul who died at the hooves of monsters!" and "Twilight has gone trigger happy" Is beginning to get quite confusing.

[Corah Il Cappo]

4510716

I'm not exactly sure what you mean by this. Care to expand upon it?

[skysthelimit]

favoriting this story!

[NightPony Dee]

4588883
It would make sense that a chapter written from Discords point of view would go against the grain, no?